Hamilton District League

Hamilton District League has been established for over 200 years. Cricket was first played in the Hamilton area by British Military officers in the early 1800s. The earliest documented game was played in Hamilton between Toronto and Guelph. In this time period a number of towns and companies had cricket teams, who would play against each other on a friendly basis. Records shows teams from Guelph, Paris, Dundas, Burlington, Brantford, Niagara Cricket Club, Simcoe and a number of teams from the city of Hamilton. The Hamilton and District Cricket League was formed in 1921. The original clubs appears to be, St.George, Holy Trinity, Sons of England, Ontario Hospitals, Grimsby and British West Indies. Other established clubs such as Hamilton CC came on board in the leagues second year of operation. They were quickly joined by Brantford, Dundas, Welland, Niagara Cricket Club, West Niagara Cricket Club, Guelph, Niagara falls and Wentworth County. Score sheets from these early games can be found in the Archives of the Hamilton Public Library (call number 796.35809713 mil). The news papers published detailed results of the games. I t could be due to the fact that the players were usually prominent citizens. The League has played host to a number of touring parties. One of the most prestigious was a visit from the MCC in 1959. George Archer captained the H&DCL and Dennis Silk captained the MCC. The Mayor of Hamilton, Mr Lloyd D. Jackson, made the toss to start the game.

This history of the H&DCL was made possible by information provided by Mr. George Archer and Material compiled by league historian Mr. Brian Millard. Further reading can be found in articles written by the late E.U Spriggs for the Centennial Sports Review.